Agriculture. 383 



some and nutritive qualities; and the great variety 

 of excellent preparations of which it is susceptible, 

 render its extended cultivation one of the most dis- 

 tinguished and useful agricultural improvements of 

 the age. 



The cultivation of the Sugar Cane, in the Ame- 

 rican islands, though not wholly, is in a great 

 measure, an improvement of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury. The great importance of this plant, in va- 

 rious points of view, renders the increase of its cul- 

 ture, in any part of the world, an object worthy of 

 particular regard/ Connected with the sugar 

 cane is the Sugar-Maple, of the United States, 

 which has lately grown into an article of conse- 

 quence. An estimate may be formed of the value 

 of this tree, as a means of supplying ourselves and 

 other nations, with a salutary food, by perusing 

 the various publications which, within a few years 

 past, have been made on the subject, particularly 

 those of Mr. Noble and Dr. Rush. The discovery 

 that sugar of an excellent quality may be extracted 

 in large quantities from the Beet Root, v/as made 

 a few years ago, by Mr. Achard, of Germany, 

 whose experiments have been considerably aided, 

 and carried to a greater length by M. Noldechen, 

 of the same country. 



The introduction of the culture of Rice into the 

 United States, to any extent, is one of the honours 

 of the period under consideration. In 1693 a ves- 

 sel from Madagascar brought some of this grain to 

 Charleston, in South-Carolina. The Captain gave 

 such a description of it to some of the inhabitants, 

 that they determined to try the cultivation of a 



y In 1700 the quantity of sugar imported into England amounted only 

 to 4J?i,425 cwt. but in 1790, the consumption of this article, in the same 

 country, had increased to 166,573,344 lbs. The demand for it has been 

 rapidly growing through the whole century, and it is now to be found in al- 

 most every hovel, tbe tenant of which has the means of purchasing it. Sec 

 Ramsay's Reviciv^ p. 3*. 



